edcrane wrote:I went to a pretty medicore/bad school in NY state. Everyone had to pass state math exams, that tested among other things, combinatorics/algebra/geometry (9th grade test) and trigonometry (10th grade test), in order to graduate from HS. I'm astonished that this was/is not the case in Kentucky (that's where you're from right?).

It wasn't the case at least when I graduated in 2000. In middle school, we did have some kind of statewide testing system under the umbrella of KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act). That test just had us write stories about how we felt and about incidents from our own experience (the idea being to teach students how to "express themselves"). Then, they graded the tests as "Novice," "Apprentice," "Proficient," or "Distinguished," with Novice being the worst and Distinguished the best. We (the students) all blew the tests off, though, since all they mattered for was measuring the schools against each other and not for graduation. I think I got "Novice" every year, because I just wrote snarky shit.

ACT: 30 (took it twice and got the same score twice: however I got a 34 in English the first time and a 34 in the math the second time: unfortunately I did correspondingly worse in the other subject to balance it so I got a 30 each time, hardly any prep tho)LSAT: 166 (moderate prep, no practice tests at all, but I did do many timed sections of the test for fun in my free time leading up to the test)

Amir N wrote:While there does appear to be a loose connection between the ACT and the LSAT, I do believe there is a distinction to be made. The LSAT tests skills that can largely be practiced and improved; the ACT seemed to be more of a test of knowledge.

Nope. The ACT can be learned and improved greatly--especially the English and science sections.

I'm not sure the two tests are comparable, though. The LSAT is strongly based on verbal skills, whereas the ACT has a science section and a pure math section. If a high ACT composite resulted from high English and reading sections, then the correlation between the ACT and the LSAT might be stronger, but if a student did really well on ACT math and science, the correlation between scores might be less so.

The GMAT, on the other hand, is a little biased toward math, but also has reading comprehension and grammar. I'd be interested in seeing correlations between the GMAT and the ACT.

The ACT science reasoning section is really just a science based reading comprehension section. Sure, you may have to interpret a few numbers from a chart, but it definitely doesn't require any science based knowledge.

brokendowncar wrote:The ACT science reasoning section is really just a science based reading comprehension section. Sure, you may have to interpret a few numbers from a chart, but it definitely doesn't require any science based knowledge.

It's definitely not science (although scientific knowledge does help), but it's not reading comprehension either--people can do very well with RC and have a great deal of difficulty reading charts, graphs, and tables. The ACT science is its own animal, although in my experience (admittedly anecdotal) there's a higher correspondence between the ACT math and science than the ACT reading and science.

ACT: 32, coldSAT: took it twice basically cold, 1 practice test the night before the first one I think, my best was Verbal 740 Math 630 (1370 Combined). I was like 710 verbal 630 math one time and 740 verbal 600 math the otherLSAT: to be updated in June

Last edited by Knock on Wed Feb 17, 2010 4:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm new here on Top Law Schools; a friend of recommended it as a good site to learn about applying to law school...which is unfortunate because I have, as a senior, ALREADY applied to law school. I have already learned that I did not quite realize how much people study for the LSAT. Oh well.

On this question, I would tend to agree with what I have seen posted here though; that is, I would think that any correlation would be more related to general test taking ability than anything else. I would more easily buy a correlation between the ACT and the GRE than a correlation between the ACT and LSAT.

EDIT: Should also note that at the time of taking the SAT and ACT I was in Calculus and hadnt seen any geometry in 3 years, most of the math on those tests are geometry so not prepping lowered my math score a bit.